Ex-DeKalb commissioner’s bribery trial rescheduled again

The federal trial of former DeKalb County Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton has been pushed back yet again.

Most recently, Barnes Sutton had been scheduled to stand trial in August, more than two years after she was arrested by FBI agents and charged with extortion and bribery. A recent order from U.S. District Court Judge Mark Cohen set a new start date of Oct. 18.

Many previous delays were fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest is due to a request by Barnes Sutton to have the trial postponed until after she has surgery to rectify a health condition that would make her presence during trial “untenable.”

That surgery is scheduled for September.

“The Court finds that Defendant has presented sufficient medical evidence to support a continuance until after the completion of her surgery, which will result in only a short continuance,” Cohen wrote.

Barnes Sutton is accused of taking a total of $1,000 in bribes from a subcontractor working on a project that documents suggest was the county’s renovation of the Snapfinger Creek Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The alleged offenses took place in 2014. Barnes Sutton left office in 2016 and was arrested in 2019.

She was released on bond shortly after her arrest.

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